LITTLE ROCK, Ark — As gas prices continue to climb, some Arkansans have decided to ditch the pump and instead go for a charging station.
According to the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration, electric vehicle registrations have increased by 43% in the first five months of the year.
That number is something that caught experts off guard, as Scott Hardin with the DFA said the numbers were surprising.
"We look at that and say 'Obviously something is driving that,' and the obvious answer is gas prices. I think Arkansans get tired of paying what they're paying at the pump. Between Jan. 1 and the end of May of this year about 1,000 Arkansans went out and purchased fully electric," said Hardin.
He said a little more than half of the registrations are for vehicles in Benton, Washington, and Pulaski County. Benton has 660 fully electric vehicles, Pulaski County has 640 fully electric vehicles, and Washington County has just over 440 fully electric vehicles.
It's not something that the state is seeing for fully electric vehicles either, Hardin said the number of hybrid vehicles have also increased by 20%.
As of June 1, 2022, there are 2,997 fully registered electric vehicles in the state, along with 27,441 hybrid cars.
It's been a steady increase in numbers that span back roughly four years ago.
2021
- Electric: 2,094 vehicles
- Hybrid: 22,818 vehicles
2020
- Electric: 1,303 vehicles
- Hybrid: 18,242 vehicles
2019
- Electric: 781 vehicles
- Hybrid: 13,861 vehicles
"It's really interesting to see this cause it's tough to find these vehicles. It's not as if you can walk on a car lot today and just have your pick," Hardin said. "Many people are waiting extended periods to purchase one of these or paying really top dollar to obtain one."
Hardin believes that these numbers likely could have been up 60-65% if accessibility was easier for Arkansans, although there's been a lot of moving parts in bringing the reality of more electric vehicles to the state.
"We're seeing companies that make these vehicles located in the state and we're seeing infrastructure growing in the state," said Hardin.
Lauren Waldrip is the executive director of the Arkansas Advanced Energy Association. The group is comprised of people that range from solar developers to energy efficiency companies.
Back in February, The White House announced that Arkansas would get $54 million to support the expansion of an electric vehicle charging network in the state. The state would also have the opportunity to apply for a $2.5 billion grant dedicated to electric vehicle charging.
This is why Waldrip believes charging stations could start to pop up throughout the state over the course of five years.
"Under Governor Hutchinson's leadership, he has worked with the state's Department of Energy to develop a plan to roll out charging stations every 50 miles. So once we get more information from the feds, we're excited to see what that plan will look like," she said.
Waldrip herself is a new Tesla owner and said electric vehicles are more affordable from a purchasing standpoint.
She also said they [electric vehicles] would save a consumer about $13,000 for every hundred thousand miles.
"They're easy to maintain and folks are realizing not only the environmental benefits of electric vehicles, but also the economic benefits as well," Waldrip said. "I was a very loyal Chevy SUV customer, but just got tired of spending $100 to fill up my tank."
Instead of the $100 to fill her tank up with gas, she said she now only spends $10 to charge her electric vehicle.
Jeff Franklin with Franklin's Charging in Little Rock has had his electric vehicle for a while, but isn't shocked that more Arkansans are opting to ditch the pump and are instead charging their vehicles.
He said his Telsa Model 3 has an 82-kilowatt battery. His charging station charges 30 cents per kilowatt-hour, which means that a full tank would only cost $24.60 compared to the $40 to $60 Arkansans are paying at the pump.
With this difference in price, Franklin said conversations with his friends that still use gas-powered cars are pretty interesting.
"Right now, I think most of them are jealous because of what I'm paying per mile versus what they're paying for mile to get around," said Franklin.